Eagle Station

Now several miles away, and with its job done, the S-29A tanker lit its main engines. Decelerating fast, the other spaceplane dropped out of orbit — heading for the atmosphere as Vasey and Gallagher began the powered reentry maneuver that would eventually bring them back to Battle Mountain.

Miller keyed his mike. “Peterson Mission Control, this is Shadow Bravo One. We’re gassed up and ready to go. What’s the status on that Falcon Heavy?”

“The Falcon Heavy is go for launch, Dusty,” Major Tony Kim radioed. Kim was one of the Space Force pilots tapped to act as CAPCOM, their intermediary with the mission controllers working this lunar flight from the ground. “T-minus thirty seconds and counting.”

Miller glanced across the spaceplane’s crowded cockpit. “Wanna see this?”

“Oh, yeah,” Hannah Craig said simply. She checked one of her flight control menus. “You came in way under our thruster-use budget while refueling, so we’ve got plenty of hydrazine to spare.”

More quick bursts from their thrusters spun the S-29 end-over-end so that they were facing back toward the distant east coast of the United States. The SpaceX launch site at Cape Canaveral was already invisible over the curve of the earth. Through their headsets, they heard Kim echoing the countdown. “T-minus six. Side booster ignition. Four… three… two… ignition… and lift off!”

Seconds later, they saw a wavering spark of light rising steadily through the lower atmosphere. Even from nearly fifteen hundred miles away, it was the brightest object in sight, outshining even the stars above them. Their own rapid flight carried them too far around the earth to spot the Falcon Heavy’s self-landing side boosters when they detached, but they did see the trail of fire from its main engine reappear above the horizon as the rocket climbed higher — accelerating toward orbital speed. Moments later, that bright light winked out.

“MECO. And first-stage separation!” Kim reported. Almost immediately, a new, dimmer point of light appeared, now just above the sharp blue band that marked the division between the earth’s atmosphere and space. “Second-stage start-up. Payload fairing separation confirmed. Everything’s looking good. The Falcon’s on its way, Dusty.”

“Copy that,” Miller replied. Quick tweaks on his thruster controls flipped the S-29 back around so that its nose was pointed along their current orbital path. Satisfied that they were back in the groove, he turned to his copilot. “Looks like this mission is a go!”

Jubilantly, Craig nodded. Her fingers danced across her multifunction displays, pulling up navigation and flight control displays. She set a series of automated checklists in motion. If necessary, they could have completed several more orbits before conducting the next maneuver. But with the definite success of that Falcon Heavy launch there was no further reason to delay. “Translunar injection insertion burn in five minutes.”

Those minutes passed in a blur of activity as they double-checked the S-29B’s computers at every step.

“Stellar navigation systems are go,” Craig announced. That was vital. Once they left Earth orbit, there would be no GPS to guide them. Like the earlier Apollo astronauts, they would have to rely entirely on triangulation using the relative bearings of prominent stars to determine their current position. “Position cross-checks complete. TLI trajectory confirmed.”

“Communication and encryption systems look good.”

“Our targeting laser radar system is operational. All indicators from the weapons laser itself are green.”

“Life support systems are go.”

“LPDRS engine readouts are nominal. Ready for relight.”

At last, Miller sat back. “Peterson Mission Control, this is Shadow Bravo One. We are go for TLI. Repeat, we are go for TLI.”

“Roger that, Bravo One,” Tony Kim replied. “Stand by for a final go/no go on that translunar injection burn.”

Impatiently, Miller and Craig waited while the mission controllers along with General Kelleher back on Earth conducted a last-minute poll to decide whether or not to approve their planned flight to the moon. For both of them, the seconds seemed to tick by with agonizing slowness. At last, Kim came back on the circuit. “Shadow Bravo One, this is Peterson Mission Control. We confirm that you are go for translunar injection.”